Vet and farrier difference of opinion help

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pottamus

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My lad has a strongly suspected abscess that has been grumbling on for over a week now. Vet and farrier have not been able to find anything obvious to dig at but the sensitive to hoof testers area now seems to be more localised to an area in particular.
Vet thinks we should continue poulticing and that if the farrier found an obvious localised pain area that he should come back out and have a dig there to try and find it. They think that his hooves can take a bit of digging as they are in good condition and strong enough to cope.
Farrier is not keen on digging at hooves without knowing exactly where to dig and thinks we should box him to vets for xrays to try and find the shadow of where it is and then dig/drill that area. Although vet thinks this is a last resort as it is not guarenteed success.
With two conflicting opinions and the worry that it will be making a mess in his hoof to leave it longer and longer...I wanted some thoughts on what experiences you guys have had with abscesses that do not want to appear...
I trust both vet and farrier by the way - farrier is remedial farrier for another big vet practice in the area.
Any thoughts....thanks
 
Sorry.. I would go with the farrier.. if he is a good one, which sounds like he is, then he is the 'foot' specialist .. if your vet won't do what the farrier wants, how about going to the other vet practice?
 
Usually our farrier digs out any deep abscesses so i am surprised your farrier doesn't feel he can?

However, we have had various occasions where ours has been unable to locate the abscess and then have resorted to the vet who can locate the area with the hoof testers and then will dig out that part and 9 times out of ten he finds it!

I have had a horse with an abscess that was ongoing for 5 weeks! We actually thought he'd damaged his shoulder at one point but no it turned out it was just a very stubborn abscess. I would hot tub in salty water and poultice the area you think the problem lies but I would certainly get the vet out to have another dig.

Our old horse was recently on 3 legs with an abscess - the vet finally, after several weeks of the horse being on and off being lame, located it, the gunk came out and horse went sound!
 
Hot tub him to dry and draw the abcess and then get your vet/your vets surgery to dig it out. Hot tubbing (standing the foot in a tub containing warm water with epson salts) is very effective and should help... just ensure the foot is submersed to the point above the coronet band so if the abcess is high in the foot it can escape up instead of down
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If your farrier doesn't support digging out abcesses I would certainly get your vets to do it, as the reluctant farrier is less likely to find something than the willing vet
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Personally I would go with the farrier on this one, get the horse xrayed and find where the abscess is - if there is one. Hoof testers are not perfect, digging holes in feet is not a great idea if you really have no idea where it is - and is the vet 100% sure it is an abscess.
 
Agree with Bosworth... I am presuming that it is not that the farrier is reluctant to dig out the abscess... he just does not want to end up with your horse having some many holes in his foot, you can't actually ride him for weeks/months.. that is why he is suggesting the x ray so that he at least has an idea of where he needs to start.... and to confirm that it is actually an abscess
 
Recently my 2yr old was showing symptoms of an abscess in his back foot. Waited ages for it to come out, farrier had a couple of good digs but could find nothing. Vet came and referred him for investigation as he thought it was higher up and not in foot. To cut a long story short the vets were completely wrong, it was in his foot and farrier eventually found problem. A keratoma. Booked in to get it removed next week. X-ray confirmed what farrier was 99% certain of. 1 vet thought stifle and the other hip!!
 
I'd be with the farrier on this one. My mare was crippled by an abcess that the farrier couldn't locate it, but had a rough idea of the area it was in, but felt that the abcess was quite deep in the foot, after hot tubbing and poticling for a few days, he had another dig and still couldn't find it. It was then decieced that the vet should come out as the farrier felt it should be x-rayed to find out where it was, but luckily when the vet came out the abcess had found a weak spot in the foot. I can total understand why the farrier wouldn't want a vet digging around in the foot
 
I'd go with the farrier. One of mine was very lame with an abscess last year, had him x-rayed and it was right at the top of his hoof. No way anyone could have dug it out. He had painkillers which encouraged him to walk around normally and the absecess popped and drained itself.
 
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